For Her to See Him Again
Hello Everyone!
Ooooooh my goodness! How amazing was Son of Neptune! I felt like a giddy school girl as I skipped off to the book shop. Consider me thoroughly inspired.
Also, can I just say, this is NOT a reunion fic. Well, not as such, it is sort of a reunion, just not the one everyone probably thinks. I don't think I can bear to write their 'off-the-boat' reunion just yet, I'm still recovering from the cliffy.
Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS! Well... probably not THAT major, but if you haven't read it and don't want to know anything, then steer clear of this!
I had a ball writing this and I'll hopefully do a few others within the coming weeks! And yes, I'm trying not to let the cliff-hanger upset me too much. Damn you Riordan...
Speaking of Riordan... I don't own anything folks, never have, never will. Tragically.
I hope you enjoy reading this and I hope you recognise it from the scene in the book! This is just what I think would have gone down on the 'other side' if you like :D.
Enjoy!
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It had been exactly eight months, fourteen days, five hours and twenty-six minutes since I'd last seen my boyfriend. Over eight months; that's nearly three-quarters of a year. A girl shouldn't go that long without seeing her boyfriend, without holding his hand, kissing him, telling him she loves him. I shouldn't have gone this long. I did all those things in my dreams; when I would see Percy on the beach and we'd watch the sunset, I'd cling to him and tell him I loved him, I'd tell him to be safe and that I was coming for him. I was always, always going to come for him.
Sometimes though, we wouldn't be on the beach, we'd be in the middle of a battlefield and I'd watch him tear and slash at monsters as they chased him. I'd try and help; whip out my knife and stand at his back, only to realise that my blade didn't pierce anything, Percy didn't see me and I'd be forced to watch as he'd plummet from an icy cliff-side. Those were the worst kinds of dreams.
Whether he remembered me, remembered camp, remembered anyone... I didn't know and at this point, I didn't really care. As long as we didn't arrive at the Roman camp to find he'd been stabbed or burnt or obliterated or any other horrible things I'd thought of, then I was fine. If I walked up to him and he was safe and whole and happy and the first thing he said to me was 'Who are you?' well... that was fine. An amnesiac boyfriend I can handle, a dead boyfriend didn't bare thinking about. I just hoped, more than anything in the world, that when (when) we found him he wasn't... shocked. Shocked that someone had come for him, come to find him and bring him home. The thought that he might wake up, feeling all alone and unloved... it made me cry myself to sleep sometimes.
I sent Leo an annoyed look. I wouldn't blame Percy if he felt no one was coming, what with the ridiculous and multiple delays the Argo ll had been suffering from. Whilst Jason had assumed the role of temporary leader (because, as much as we loved him, in our hearts we only had one leader), it was still pretty obvious that I was the de facto go-to person. I had pretty much taken it upon myself from the get-go to overlook the ship's progress, the camp itself, moral, restless campers and still helping Jason with trying to remember the camp's location.
Thankfully, last week, it became apparent that he'd been able to remember the general area of the Roman camp, in San Francisco as we'd anticipated. He told us the camp was called Camp Jupiter. I bet out Zues would have loved that one. Personally, I couldn't imagine our camp being called anything but what it was, but from what I had gathered from Jason's stories, rank and skill and 'credentials' were far more important than the talents and birthrights we so valued.
I tapped my foot impatiently. We were sat in the Big House's rec room, preparing for what could hopefully be the first contact I'd had with Percy for over eight months. Myself, Grover, Leo, Piper and Jason were seated around the coffee table, which was strewn with intricate maps of America, all of us looking anxious. Leo in particular seemed to be avoiding my gaze, clearly remembering my outburst when he'd informed me we'd be delayed by two days. I remember growling at him that Percy might not have two days – in hindsight, I'll apologise later, he'd been working as hard as he could for months now, and this was hardly something I hadn't anticipated.
I folded my arms, trying not to let the anxiousness and frustration show on my face. Grover had returned from searching for Percy over two months ago and had begun to tirelessly try and establish the link the two had created between them. Thus far, he'd been unsuccessful, which resulted in a lot of headaches, for him and us. I couldn't recall exactly how many times I'd seen him with his face screwed up painfully in concentration. Or at least, I hoped concentration... he wasn't far off looking constipated either.
Grover's return to camp meant that there was one less person, satyr, out there looking for Percy, but Chiron had insisted. I could see the logic in the plan; perhaps now we had discovered why Jason and Percy had switched, it might be easier to contact him via the empathy link, but thus far, nothing had come of it. We gathered in the rec room weekly to try it. And after each week, after each failure to speak to and see Percy, I found myself placing more and more hope in Tyson. The only one still out looking.
Currently he was on his way to San Francisco with Mrs O'Leary, having travelled tirelessly through the States, Jason insisted that his instincts were telling him that Tyson was close.
"Comeon,comeon,comeon..."
Grover was sat on the armchair, body pulled in tight like a rubber band ready to snap. His goateed face was screwed up in concentration and he rocked back and forth as he rubbed his temples. Piper cast him a sympathetic look and rubbed his shoulder,
"It's okay Grover, just take your time."
I sent her a grateful smile and caught Leo fiddling with a detached switchboard and screw driver. His face was drawn and anxious with endless nights working into the morning. He caught my eye and shrank back a little, but I smiled at him tiredly, assuming he read my silent apology by the slump of his shoulders and small answering smile. Jason was sat next to me, with a thoughtful look on his face. I'd asked him before what he thought of these little meetings we had, of the empathy link Grover and Percy shared and at first he'd been disbelieving that such a thing could exist. Mostly though, he's confided to me, he worried if someone was similarly trying to contact him and they were getting no response.
I chalked it up to Hera, who I was so far beyond disliking, it was physically damaging to my health to safely mention.
Grover released a breath he'd been holding for a worrying amount of time and his whole frame seemed to slump in exhaustion. I couldn't help feeling my heart sink. He looked to be with big, sad eyes and I knew that whilst he was ashamed it hadn't worked, he was Percy's best friend, he wanted to know he was alright as much as I did.
"I'm so sorry Annabeth."
I forced a tight smile and patted his jean clad knee.
"It's okay Grover." I chuckled, hoping it just sounded watery to my ears. "If everything goes to plan, we'll hopefully see him in a few days anyway."
Leo cringed a little in my peripheral vision, but I ignored it. Jason smiled reassuringly and nodded,
"We definitely will. I..." His confident face fell slightly into a sheepish expression, "I miss my friends."
Leo grinned and clapped him on the back,
"That's totally understandable! I just can't believe how long it's been since the Grand Canyon."
Piper shook her head,
"Me neither."
I couldn't believe it either. Couldn't believe how long it had been since Hera had come to me in a dream and dangled promises of information in front of me, knowing she wouldn't let me see him for... I took a deep breath and calmed my rising frustration. Logically, I could see why Hera had let all this play out the way it did. But that didn't mean I had to like it.
Grover seemed to have shrunk in on himself.
"I can't believe this is still happening, I thought... I thought for sure this close to – "
I nodded, feeling unhappy but determined to move onto more important matters. I stood and the others followed suit. I scooped up a map of San Francisco from the table and Jason groaned with a look of pitiful beseeching.
"Aww man, again?"
I grinned,
"Sorry Jason, again. Leo, can you get back to the final preparations on the deck? Then we can double check the hull's security."
He nodded quickly, fingers dancing quickly over his switchboard,
"I'm right on it. I'll even triple check it."
I raised a brow,
"Whatever you have time for."
He grinned at me sheepishly and Piper shook her head, moving to heard him and Jason out of the room,
"Come on boys, back to wo-"
"Woah! WOAH!"
We span at Grover's fierce shout. He was bent over, clutching his head and panting harshly with a wild look in his eyes. He looked up and stared right through us, as though we weren't even there, with such a look of horror and wonderment that my breath was stolen.
I ran to him,
"Grover! What is it?"
"Him! It's him! I... I can..."
He was breathing as though he was running a marathon. He was staring into the distance as though trying to catch up with someone in front of him. He looked so overwhelmed that I was concerned when a look of sheer confusion replaced it,
"What?"
My breath caught and my heart skipped a beat, I knew he wasn't talking to us. Did it... could he be talking to...
"No, Percy. It's me, Grover!"
My breathing quickened to as every emotion that had been bubbling up inside me for the last eight months threatened to burst out like a volcano. Percy... He... he didn't recognise Grover?
"Stay put! We're on our way to find you. Tyson is close – at least we think he's the closest. We're trying to get a lock on your position!"
I couldn't bear it. I didn't even know if this would do anything, but I grabbed Grover's head tightly and slammed my forehead into his, my eyes screwing shut. The sense of vertigo that smashed into me had to be pushed aside because all of a sudden everyone had disappeared and I was running.
I was running next to someone. I was running next to him. Oh gods. There were a million different things I'd wanted to say to Percy if I ever wound up here, seeing him, and oh gods, how had I never realised how amazing it was just to see him.
He was pale and there were bruises (bruises?) on his arms. He was wearing a purple shirt and that made my heart hurt in a way I hadn't prepared myself for. He was... it was like they had claimed him... I reached out a desperate hand to him, my voice wild and loud,
"Thank the gods! For months and months we couldn't see you! Are you alright?"
In hindsight, there were probably more important things I could have asked, the most important probably being 'So, er, where exactly are you?' but in my heart, in that single desperate little moment, I was so horrified by those few bruises, by the shadows under those familiar, shocked green eyes, that it was all I had ever wanted to know. Was he alright?
He looked confused and worried. So beautifully, painfully worried . I remembered taking a knife for him, dying, him leaning over me and knowing me better than anyone in the world. You'r cute when you're worried. Your eyebrows get all scrunched together. He was probably the most brilliantly amazing thing I'd ever seen.
"Are you real?" He called.
Wha - ? Oh all the things he could have said? Not, 'yes I'm fine, you can find me here...' He looked so vulnerable and hopeful that a part of me nearly burst with happiness – he knew someone was coming for him; gods, he was hoping for me. I stretched out my fingers but to my horror, my fingers seemed to slip through him. He was disappearing before me, slipping away and I frantically grasped at whatever useful piece of information I could,
"Stay put! It'll be easier for Tyson to find you! Stay where you are!"
He finally slipped away from my view and when I blinked and opened my eyes, I was met with a shocked and breathless Grover. Breathing heavily, I looked over my shoulder at the shocked, wide eyes of Leo, Piper and Jason. Piper opened her mouth like a fish, searching for the right words as me and Grover collected itself.
"It... did it...?"
I nodded, feeling torn between the indescribably happiness and overwhelming worry threatening to bring tears to my eyes. I settled on the feeling of happiness. I'd spoke to Percy. I'd seen him. I hadn't told him I loved him, I hadn't even touched him. But I'd imparted the only piece of information I could so that I could find him.
I heard Leo let out a loud cry of joy behind me as Grover joined him in giddily bouncing up and down. Piper seemed to try and smile along sensibly until Leo dragged her and a grinning Jason into tangle of joyful, jumping limbs. I felt Grover grab my arm and drag me over. I let loose a laugh that felt so good and beautiful that it felt like I was setting a bird free from a cage. Months and months of searching and worry and unhappiness...
That hadn't been much, in fact it had hardly been anything. But knowing he was alive and whole and waiting for us... it was the first step in the quest that would change our lives... and it was the first time my eyes had met his in over eight months. And oh gods, I grinned breathlessly, if that wasn't worth everything in the world to me.